"Hey." 

Nothing but a simple tombstone, engraved with nothing but a "Z", stared back at him. Not that X expected it could talk; a slab of stone under a large blossoming apple tree didn't make for good conversation, he wagered. Still, there was a comfort in small, silent things, from the simple grassy field that made up their meeting place to the hilt of the beam sabre that sat next to the bouquet of irises that lied down next to it. 

It wasn't meant to be an extravagant place full of pomp and ceremony: the clear sunny sky, endless grass (short of the single tree), and lack of any sort of building made that abundantly clear. 

"It's been a while since I've seen you...sorry about that. I've been busy and it's been hard to get away, even to sleep. You know how it is."

X chuckled, scratching his head. 

"But we're starting to home in on the last of the straggler groups still holding onto Sigma's ideals. We might even win the war soon, and then...well. Things will be peaceful again. Maybe I'll be able to go back to being a B-class, huh?"

Maybe. Maybe he'd even be able to wear his favorite human clothes, like he was wearing now: blue upon blue, with even more blue. Right now, he couldn't have even worn these around the base with as little free time as he had, but here, it was all right. In dreams, everything was safe, including prattling about at a gravestone in the middle of nowhere like he was a character in a human drama. 

Well. He was alone. 

There was no harm in creating a grave for an old friend that didn't exist in the real world, just as there was no harm in voicing his thoughts to him.

After all, it wasn't as though anyone could hear him.

The sound of an expertly played piano fills the air, its tune something akin to the rushing wind... And then the sounds of a violin, its strings lovingly caressed, taking the listener down, somehow, to the depths of the deepest seas... The lights come on in a flash -- its a concert.

"It's Haruka!" someone exclaimed.

"She's so cool!" Usagi agreed, unable to take her eyes off of the pair. The music that had just filled the concert hall drifted away, as the musicians took their bows and accepted the applause that washed over from the crowds, just as someone screamed...

"It's the Three Lights!"

"Huh? Where?!" Usagi cried, looking around furiously, "I can't see! Where's my binoculars?!" No way was she going to miss the biggest concert of the century!! The Three Lights, the hugest pop group to come to Tokyo!

 When she closed her eyes and sleep claimed the corpse the soul of Madoka Kaname thus controlled, she dreamed of better days. 

What precisely? Anything one would think of: playing alongside her friends in a schoolyard, or even singing together in a too-small Karaoke box, the familiar sounds of badly-recorded J-Pop fluttering in the air. Madoka's heart often fluttered from event to event, grasping for the normalcy she'd left behind, and yet at the same time embracing the life she'd chosen to lead with no regrets. 

Tonight was no different. 

The school roof wasn't the most comfortable place to lie down, but Madoka cared little. She lied flat on her back, bentou long finished and neatly set aside. The sky was almost an endless expanse above her, with barely any clouds. 

The sun didn't even shine in her eyes.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes. It was so warm. She could just lie here for a while. Nobody would mind, she was sure...